We ALL Are A Part of History IV

from: (Un)occupy Oakland: An Open Source Love Poem
by Shailja Patel

 IV.
Look.
A thousand candles. Look
she who was thrown out
of her wheelchair by the police,
illuminated. See
the ones with the wrist casts, dressings
on wounds, eyes rinsed of teargas
with camomile tea, watch
the street medics check their supplies
mediators earth the rage, watch
how we labor
at strategy, technique, dialogue
at race, class, gender, disability
at coalition-building, at complexity
conversation by careful
conversation. Watch us
do
this
thing.

See us
fifty, sixty-thousand strong
wave on wave
rolled two miles back
from Port of Oakland, carnival
of joyous justice ¿De
quién son las calles? ¡Son nuestras
las calles!

Look
there under the jeer
of the low-circling ‘copter, three
generations of hijabi women
do yoga asanas
on the straw floor
of Frank Ogawa - Oscar Grant plaza.

They have come
for the city I love
for the people I love
and the people I love
and the city I love
keep
coming
back.

Migritude.